Sunday, January 29, 2017

I read the novel Silence by the Japanese Catholic author, Shusaku Endo, years ago when I lived in Japan. He's called the "Japanese Graham Greene." With good reason. Like Greene, he's a darn good novelist. Also like Greene, his Catholicism in his writings is ambiguous. I don't hold that against him as a novelist. Some of my favorite Catholic novelists are also ambiguous about the Catholic faith in their writings, even though they are clearly and intentionally Catholic, like Walker Percy or Evelyn Waugh.

I read many, many reviews of Martin Scorsese's film based on Endo's novel, also called "Silence." One of the best on the critical side, I thought, was Monica Migliorino Miller's "Scorsese's Silence: Many Martyrs -- Little Redemption" (Crisis, January 9, 2017). But there were others that were also good on the appreciative side.

Personally, I liked the movie Silence. I think it was very well done. Whatever Endo's and Scorsese's motives, I think they both dealt powerfully with two things: (1) the exquisitely horrific tortures underwent by Catholics in Japan before the Meiji Restoration, and (2) the diabolically insidious temptations to apostasy that can make infidelity to Christ itself look like fidelity and virtue.

The latter theme of the movie, which I think most Christian audiences thought most significant, I think were (mis-?)understood in two ways: (a) by the 'liberals' as proclaiming a gospel of merciful accommodation indifferent to doctrine, and (b) by 'conservatives' as a message of doctrinal compromise intended by both Endo's novel and Scorsese's film.

I'm not at all certain that the latter is true. Whether it is or not, I think that not only the temptations but the consequences of apostasy were shown by both novel and film in a faithful light: the temptations were beyond ingenious, with the voice of Jesus seeming to come from His image on the fumie itself ("Step on me.") as if Christ Himself were counseling the mercy of apostasy as the path to redemption; and both apostate priests ended their lives by faded into oblivion, morphing into gollum-like shadows of themselves; and the Japanese Catholics (not all, but many) who witnessed their apostasy were significantly demoralized by it.

Remarkably, however, when Catholic priests returned to Japan after the Meiji Restoration of the mid-nineteenth century, they encountered Kakure Kurishitan (hidden Christians) who came out of hiding once again to present rosaries and crucifixes and statues of Maria Kanon that doubled as secret images of the Madonna, showing that the Faith had not been entirely wiped out. The price of persecution as well as apostasy was high. Only something like one tenth of 1% of Japanese people are Christians, and of these, half (about 509,000) are Catholic.

Some of you may remember the movie, The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. One of the young samurai actors in the film was Shin Koyamada, who only discovered during the making of that film that his ancestors were among the Kakure Kurishitan. So moved was he by the narrative of persecution and Catholic resistance during the Shimabara Rebellion, that he ventured to make film about those events in which he played the father of Shiro Amakusa, the leader of that rebellion (see my review here with a trailer of the film, "Good Soil").

Another recent discovery is the book, A Christian Samurai: The Trials of Baba Bunko, William J. Farge, SJ., which contradicts the generally held belief among Western historians that the Catholic mission in Japan ended in failure. Farge relates how Christian moral teachings not only survived the long period of persecution but influenced Japanese society throughout the Tokugawa period. Baba Bunko was a Japanese Catholic essayist and satirist whose biting criticism of the authorities of his time eventually led to his execution; but he was brazenly bold in asserting his views, declaring, for example, that a representation of the Eucharist would be a more fitting symbol for Japan than the coat of arms of the emperor and insignia of the shogun.

February 2 and 3 are connected days of sorts in the Liturgical Calendar. February 2 is the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This day is also known as Candlemas Day, as the Mass Propers include a Blessing of Candles and – logistics permitting – a procession with candles during the Mass.

February 3 is the Feast of St. Blase, Bishop & Martyr. St. Blase was Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia and was martyred in 316 A.D. He is known for saving a child from choking on a fishbone. The Church has memorialized this in a formal way with another special blessing of candles, followed by blessing of throats of the faithful using those blessed candles. The blessing must be performed in Latin.

The Blessing of Candles and Throats on the Feast of St. Blase

The blessing of throats will be held after Mass at Old St. Mary’s this Friday, February 3, and next Sunday, February 5 at the OCLMA/Academy and at St. Benedict/Holy Name of Mary.

℣. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
℟. Who made heaven and earth.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.

Almighty and most gentle God, Who didst create the multiplicity of things through Thine only Word, and didst will that same Word through Whom all things were made to take flesh for the refashioning of man; Thou, Who art great and without measure, terrible and worthy of praise, a Worker of wonders: the glorious Martyr and Bishop Blase, not fearing to suffer all sorts of diverse tortures because of his profession of faith in Thee, was suited happily to bear the palm of martyrdom: and Thou didst grant to him, among other graces, the favor that he should by Thy power cure all kinds of illnesses of the throat: we humbly beg Thy Majesty not to look upon our sins, but to be pleased by his merits and prayers and to deign in Thy venerable kindness to bless + and sanctify + this creature of wax by the outpouring of Thy grace; that all whose necks in good faith are touched by it may be freed by the merits of his sufferings from any illness of the throat, and that healthy and strong they may offer thanks to Thee within Thy Holy Church, and praise Thy glorious Name, which is blessed forever and ever. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
℟. Amen.

[He sprinkles the candles with Holy Water. Holding the candles in the form of a cross at the throat of each of the faithful, he says:]

Through the intercession of Saint Blase, Bishop and Martyr, may God deliver you from all disease of the throat, and from every other evil. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost.
℟. Amen.

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for January 29, 2017. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

* NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins," and subsequently extended this privilege beyond the Year of Mercy. These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites.

What you lookin’ at? You all a bunch of f—in’ a–holes. You know why? You don’t have the guts to be what you wanna be. You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your f—in’ fingers and say, “That’s the bad guy.” So… what that make you? Good? You’re not good. You just know how to hide, how to lie. Me, I don’t have that problem. Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie. So say good night to the bad guy! Come on. The last time you gonna see a bad guy like this again, let me tell you.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Here's a daisy that will warm the cockles of many a contemporary Catholic's heart, particularly if they have no acquaintance with roses.

What can one say? There's Rutherford Cabernet, and then there's Coca-cola; there's Roquefort, and then there's Velveeta; there's Shakespeare, and then there's Hallmark greeting cards; there's Michelangelo's Pieta, and then there's Precious Moments figurines; there's the Boston Catechism, and there's Youcat; there's the Council of Trent, and then there's World Youth Day; there's Solemn High Mass, and then there's Life Teen liturgy; there's the Chair of St. Peter, and there's the presider's chair; there's Palestrina, and then there's this. Or am I just being a mean-spirited old grump? (Notice the wardrobe and the props?)

* NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins," and subsequently extended this privilege beyond the Year of Mercy. These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Here I explore the notes made by the French theologian Henri de Lubac
as he prepared for and participated in the Second Vatican Council. I
will gradually add revealing excerpts and comments from successive
stages of de Lubac’s involvement. Each stage will be linked below. They
will be announced in City Gates as they are added.

I’ve been wondering how to handle the decision of Ignatius Press to
publish the notebooks kept by Henri de Lubac, SJ on his participation in
the Second Vatican Council. Volume I has been released, which covers de
Lubac’s observations between July 25, 1960 and September 2, 1963.

In printed form, these observations run to nearly 500 pages, and they
include everything from physical descriptions of people he met to brief
points of analysis concerning key issues facing the Council. To comb
the text searching for particular information would be difficult, and to
read the whole thing slowly enough to take my own notes would be
unlikely to repay the effort.

And yet de Lubac (1896 - 1991) is a pivotal figure in Catholic
theology in the mid-20th century, a man unwillingly locked in a battle
on two fronts. On the one side were the largely misguided systematic
Thomists who dominated the Roman Curia, expending great energy to secure
condemnations of every insight that did not fit conveniently into their
own excessively abstract system—almost a philosophy rather than a
theology, and increasingly divorced from the sources of theology in
Scripture and the Fathers. On the other roamed the Modernists, rapidly
rising to leadership in the Jesuit Order and elsewhere, who for many
good reasons distrusted the narrow establishment in Rome, but who
spiraled into an unbridled secularism which has seriously undermined the
Faith.

So some notice must be taken of this new and important resource for
understanding the questions, problems, personalities, and even hostile
forces surrounding the work of the Council. What I have decided to do,
therefore, is read through the notebooks at my leisure, mostly for
enjoyment, marking brief passages which shed light on issues of
continuing importance. Then, in a series of “interventions” of my own
(not to the body of bishops but to my readers in this space), I will
present and sometimes comment on what I have found to be of special
interest.

To make things easier for readers, who will have to digest this
material in fits and starts according to my own schedule, I will use
internal links which lead to the beginning of each new and dated
addition of highlights. In addition, italics will be used to indicate my
own comments. Paragraphs in regular type are de Lubac’s own words. But
before I begin to notice the most interesting aspects of the notebooks, I
will offer just a little bit of background.

"It turns out that the most important footnote in 'Amoris Laetitia' may be one that's not there, because a key passage of the document is lifted almost verbatim from a 1995 essay in theology by Archbishop Victor Fernandez -- raising troubling questions about Fernandez's role as ghostwriter, and the magisterial force of his ideas."

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Conservatism and liberalism are notoriously ambiguous terms. They are relative by their very nature. Conservative? Liberal? With respect to what? And what do we mean by them? Understood in its political sense, classical 'liberalism' promoted views that would be regarded at 'conservative' today: minimal government with a severely restricted job description: the protection of life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, both terms have also non-political meanings, such as theological or cultural 'liberalism' or 'conservatism.'

A friendly colleague recently described herself as a "liberal" on Facebook. She did this during the politically-contentious election season, and I think her description was meant to distance herself, in part, from the mud-slinging we witnessed on both sides of that event, but also, in part, to distance herself from the slurs of racism, sexism, xenophobia, coarseness, and ugliness that the media did their best to identify unilaterally with Trump and other 'deplorable' opponents of Democratic party enlightenment, just as they portrayed Hillary as polished, professional, refined, etc. (Who can forget Michelle Obama's remark: "When they go low, we go high"!)

I commented on my colleague's Facebook post that by her description of 'liberalism,' I, too, saw myself as a 'liberal'-- educated, high-minded, open-minded, concerned for the poor and dispossessed, desiring to be fair and generous toward others, etc. Yet I cannot imagine that this did not produce at least a little bat squeak of cognitive dissonance, in that part of her intended meaning was surely political and she very likely did not regard my severe criticisms of Hillary and her sycophant media promoters as 'liberal' in any sense of the word.

There is a very good discussion of conservatism and liberalism in R. R. Reno's editorial in the latest issue of First Things (February 2017), though couched in a deeper analysis of "Gratitude for the Given" that pervades traditional Christian understandings of one's fatherland or motherland, which involves accepting limitations but with a disposition that allows us to rest in thankfulness for all that is good in our national heritage.

Modern liberalism, says Reno, discourages rest:

We must work in the present for the sake of the future. Everything is subject to improvement, which means we are required to forsake the mode of enjoyment. The injustices tolerated by our system of government cry out for remedy. We need a living Constitution, one plastic and available for the great and the good to use in order to bring us into a better future. The same goes for our history and traditions. They must be critiqued and updated so that they are more diverse and inclusive. By this way of thinking, gratitude for the given brings complacency, and complacency is an enemy of the future.

Conservatism, on the other hand, comes from a sober recognition of limits -- or, perhaps, getting mugged by reality:

We are fallible, fallen creatures, and the conservative learns to doubt the efficacy of the grand schemes of progressivism, efforts of social transformation that often require the power of government. Ignorance, self-interest, greed, hubris, sloth -- these and other vices, so stubbornly resistant to the beneficent ministrations of progress, subvert even the best plans. The conservative, therefore, argues for political humility. We should seek to ameliorate injustices and make marginal improvements in our political system. But let's not imagine we can perfect society with a master-stroke of social engineering.

But Reno goes on to tie in this traditional conservative skepticism into what Yuval Levin calls a "conservatism of gratitude," as adumbrated earlier. He also goes on to discuss these alternatives in combination with other variables such as libertarianism, utilitarianism, and free-market purism, finally returning to themes of tradition (Chesterton's "democracy of the dead"), gratitude, repose and rest in politics that comes ultimately from Pax Christi. There is so much more that could and should be said here, but here are, at least, some chestnuts of wisdom worth tucking away in one's mental pocket to mull over in the days and months ahead.

The bishops of Malta, in a document that can only be called disastrous, repeatedly invoking Pope Francis’ Amoris laetitia, have directly approved divorced and remarried Catholics taking holy Communion provided they feel “at peace with God”. Unlike, say, the Argentine document on Amoris which, one could argue, left just enough room for an orthodox reading, however widely it also left the doors open for abuse by others, the Maltese bishops in their document come straight out and say it: holy Communion is for any Catholic who feels “at peace with God” and the Church’s ministers may not say No to such requests. In my view the Maltese bishops have effectively invited the Catholics entrusted to them (lay faithful and clergy alike!) to commit a number of objectively gravely evil acts. That their document was, moreover, published in L’Osservatore Romano, exacerbates matters for it deprives Vatican representatives of the ‘plausible deniability’ that they could have claimed (and might soon enough wish they could claim), as it becomes known that the Maltese bishops went beyond what even Amoris, if interpreted narrowly, seemed to permit. Read more >>

Venturing further afield than usual, Prayer Pilgrimages has scheduled a tour of historic churches in California, Monday-Saturday, February 6-11. Pilgrims will fly to California, then be transported by bus across the state, to see historic churches in the north (San Francisco Bay area), the mid-south (Los Angeles and Orange County), and the southern border (San Diego).

Notable sites to be visited include St. Andrew in Pasadena [photo below], east of L.A., a colorful church with a baldacchino-surmounted altar. St. Andrew hosted a special Extraordinary Form Mass that packed the church with faithful, one of whom was actress Sigourney Weaver.

Ss. Peter & Paul in Wilmington (Long Beach area), south of Los Angeles, is a glistening white and gold edifice staffed by the Norbertine fathers [photo below]. Long the home of conservative Ordinary Form Masses with Holy Communion distributed at the rail, Ss. Peter & Paul also hosts regular Tridentine Masses, as well as occasional liturgies in the traditional Norbertine rite.

Several churches featured on Extraordinary Faith will be visited, including St. Dominic in San Francisco, Five Wounds in San Jose [photo below], and the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano. The Serra Chapel at Capistrano is the oldest functioning church in California. It hosts one of the longest-running Tridentine Masses since Vatican II, which packs the church to overflowing every Sunday.

Plans call for several Tridentine Masses during the pilgrimage, though specifics have not yet been announced. If logistics allow, pilgrims will attend one of the sung hours of the Divine Office chanted by the Norbertine priests at St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County. St. Michael’s Abbey was where Fr. Mark Borkowski and Dom John Tonkin both spent part of their formation. Its priests celebrate the majority of the Traditional Masses in L.A. and Orange County.

Participants will also see the secular sights of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Carmel-by-the-Sea. Cost per person is $905 single or $655 double, including airfare and hotel. For more information or to register, visit www.prayerpilgrimages.com or call tour director Michael Semaan at (248) 250-6005.

St. Joseph Oratory Pastor Installation

Archbishop Vigneron will formally install Canon Michael Stein as Pastor of St. Joseph Oratory at the 11:00 AM Mass on Sunday, February 5.

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for January 15, 2017. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

* NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins," and subsequently extended this privilege beyond the Year of Mercy. These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites.

This was published last Sunday, but if you haven't seen it yet, I think it's probably the clearest illustration I've seen of problems posed by efforts to square the circle by those the author calls "Amoris Supporters":

Typical pastors reading 'Amoris' are likely to stumble into accepting its central flaw, namely, assuming that an individual Catholic’s assessment of his or her own conscience is the sole criterion that governs a minister’s decision to give holy Communion to a member of the faithful.

Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller, recently stated that the Church is "very far" from a situation in which the pope is in need of "fraternal correction" because he has not put the faith and church teaching in danger.

Interviewed Jan. 9 on the Italian all-news channel, TGCom24, he reportedly stated that Pope Francis' document on the family, Amoris Laetitia, is "very clear" in its teaching.

Cardinal Müller is obviously a smart man. Given the fact that a brother cardinal of the stature of Cardinal Burke has, together with other cardinals, expressed various dubia and questioned the teaching of Amoris Laetitia on key points, one has to ask why the head of the CDF is saying this.

The CNS article concludes with some remarks that may suggest a possible answer. Cardinal Müller says that "everyone, especially cardinals of the Roman church, have the right to write a letter to the pope. However, I was astonished that this became public, almost forcing the pope to say 'yes' or 'no'" to the cardinals' questions about what exactly the pope meant in "Amoris Laetitia."

“Everyone says Trump is going to change everything way too much,” says the famed venture capitalist, contrarian and member of the Trump transition team. “Well, maybe Trump is going to change everything way too little. That seems like the much more plausible risk to me.”

Mr. Thiel is comfortable being a walking oxymoron: He is driven to save the world from the apocalypse. Yet he helped boost the man regarded by many as a danger to the planet.

“The election had an apocalyptic feel to it,” says Mr. Thiel, wearing a gray Zegna suit and sipping white wine in a red leather booth at the Monkey Bar in Manhattan. “There was a way in which Trump was funny, so you could be apocalyptic and funny at the same time. It’s a strange combination, but it’s somehow very powerful psychologically.”

At the recent meeting of tech executives at Trump Tower — orchestrated by Mr. Thiel — the president-elect caressed Mr. Thiel’s hand so affectionately that body language experts went into a frenzy. I note that he looked uneasy being petted in front of his peers.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Jimmy Fallon, Bill Murray, Sting and Bianca Jagger all lament that the Catholic Church is in all out revolution, so why is it that so many mainstream Catholics seem intent on denying that this is the case, asks Michael Matt. The Editor of the traditionalist Remnant magazine relates his experience at a recent Novus Ordo 'Gathering Rite,' and launches into a welcome rant about the appalling indifference to the Real Presence of Christ in our churches. He also asks: "What is neo-Catholicism?" and "What is the New Mass?" Hard times for Catholics who know the details of recent changes in the Church.

I bet you anything that many Catholics would find nothing at all exceptional about the 'Gathering Rite' referenced at the beginning of this video. Matt's reaction is so different because, as he says, he's never been to one of these Novus Ordo Masses. He's apprently spend his whole life in the Extraordinary Form (the Traditional Latin Mass); and his reaction is probably similar to how some of our ancestors would react in a contemporary Catholic church. What does this tell us about changes in the Church; and what should we think about this?

Monday, January 09, 2017

Sun. 1/8 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 45 minutes before and after Masses) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (The Holy Family - 2nd class)

Sun. 1/8 8:00 and 10:30AM Low Mass (Confessions 1/2 hour before Mass: call beforehand) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (The Holy Family - 2nd class)

* NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins," and subsequently extended this privilege beyond the Year of Mercy. These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites.

In the film’s climatic scene Japanese Christians are horrifically tortured and Rodrigues is forced to watch. If he would only step on the fumi-e placed on the ground before him the torture would end. Ferreira is there urging him, as Rodrigues himself had urged others, to step on the face of Jesus. And of course the apostasy, as in all other instances, is connected to bringing an end to human suffering. It is this scene that makes the Scorsese film a theological failure. Ferreira is the Judas character—but it is very unclear whether this Judas functions negatively or positively. Is this a Judas who works against Christ—or is this a Judas, ala the Gnostic text, The Gospel of Judas who actually aids Jesus to accomplish his mission? Ferreira tells Rodrigues: “If Christ were here he would apostatize for their sake” and “To give up your faith is the most painful act of love.” (Spoiler alert.) Then the voice of Jesus himself is heard coming from the fumi-e image lying on the ground. It is a bronze plaque of the crucified Christ who Himself urges Rodriquez: “Step on me. I carried this cross for your pain.” With the permission of Christ, Rodrigues denies his Lord. Apostasy, this time his own, stops the suffering of others, and the Christians are not martyred.

This is the most troubling aspect of Silence. Jesus gives permission to betray him, gives Christians permission to fail in their witness. It makes all the difference whether the film intends this to be the voice of Christ to Rodrigues or whether the voice is just something Rodrigues imagines in his own head. In this reviewer’s opinion, Scorsese intends this to be Christ’s voice that clears the path to failure. First of all, technically speaking, it is sound outside of Rodrigues, emanating from the image to him. The voice is not presented as something coming from the interior of Rodrigues’ consciousness.

Why would Scorsese, based on Endo, give us a Christ who provides his followers permission to fail? What end does the “Step on me” Jesus serve? Since Rodrigues recommends apostasy only to avoid suffering, one could conclude that suffering trumps faith—that for the good of avoiding horrible pain, denial of Christ is justified as it is Jesus alone who “carries this cross for your pain.” Of course this consequentialist ethic is contrary to Christian faith and morals—namely to do evil for the sake of good.

One could also just as well conclude that the “Step on me” Jesus is a theology that only Christ’s suffering has any value. Human beings, due to their inherent sinful nature will inevitably fail, despite all high-minded goals and personal expectations and in the end all that matters is the abiding silent presence of God to those that suffer. However, this is an insufficient Christian message—especially when one considers that in God’s eyes human suffering does have salvific value as Saint Paul himself stated: “Even now I find my joy in the suffering I endure for you. In my own flesh I fill up the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body the Church.”

Or when Rodrigues steps on Jesus this is meant to be indeed the “most painful act of love” as he surrenders his own ideal for the sake of saving others. However, this interpretation is seriously weaken by the fact that he is miserable afterwards and for decades to come will continue to step on the face of Christ in repeated acts of apostasy when no one needs to be delivered from torture.

If however, the voice is just Rodrigues’ own justification to deny Christ—then indeed he is a true apostate and the movie works as a tale of God’s abiding presence to all those who suffer—the suffering of the martyrs as well as the suffering of those like Rodrigues and Kichijiro who are tormented by remorse and guilt for their failure. Jesus is there silently in the suffering of all—as the “voice” from the image says: “I carried this cross for your pain.” And this works well when one considers that Kichijiro commits apostasy over and over again, and is even a Judas who betrays Rodrigues to the authorities. Yet he always seeks out the priest to confess his sins and receive absolution. And indeed mercy is there for those who fail. Silence poignantly illustrates this point. Rodrigues indeed follows Ferreira—who ironically has wound up mentoring him into the life of an apostate priest. But long after Rodrigues quits the priesthood Kichijiro finds him and begs him to hear his confession and Rodrigues again provides him the absolution for which he craves.

Except for Christ telling Rodrigues to “Step on me” this forgiveness scene would be the climax of the film, and thus Silence would be about the silent abiding presence of God to all, even to those who fail. But this possible climax is overwhelmed by the very troubling permission of Christ to fail. The first climactic scene plunges the Scorsese film into a most problematic and erroneous soteriology. The end of the film attempts to show a certain level of redemption for Rodrigues who apparently remained a Christian privately, but is not powerful enough to overcome a depiction of Christ who leads his faithful servant to deny him.

This movie seriously examines Christian themes and ideas. But should a film that, to its credit, does such an examination necessarily be called a Christian film? I think not. A Christian film cannot simply explore—it must conclude and it must conclude in a way that is consistent with the gospel message—however unconventionally, provocatively, or innovatively presented. There must be the Christ of the Gospels who, rather than commanding his faithful followers to step on him, and twists this negativity, this denial of the Light, into “the most painful act of love,” calls them to follow him to the Cross—the Christ who rather ensures his faithful: “From the cup I drink from you shall drink; the bath I am immersed in you shall share.”

Believers hoping for a film that explores Christian ideas from an authentic Christian context—should skip this one. Silence should also not be seen by the young, or those whose faith is not strong as the theology in this movie is complex, clever and seductive. However, if you are a mature Christian looking for a finely crafted, well-acted, disturbing film that provokes thinking and debates—then Silence is for you. Let the debates begin.

Sunday, January 08, 2017

FDR offered the hope of prosperity. Can the new president do the same? Daniel Henninger addresses this question in his searching article, "Trump and Black Americans" (Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2017). a very good article.

14. You say frequently, “Deo gratias!” This is Latin for “Thanks be to God.” Just curious: Do you happen to go to a Mass that is in Latin?

Yes, I do. I also do my rosary in Latin and learned a whole bunch of other prayers in Latin as well. It’s the language demons fear the most, and the universal language of the Church. I find it more reverent and a higher form of prayer.

The more I pray, the more I see everything in my life as getting better, not only in regards to the Faith, but also for myself and automatically my family and friends. The more prayers I memorize the more it develops my brain, the easier it becomes for me to memorize scripts, whether it’s for movies, TV or commentating jobs. YES, it takes time to memorize, but it will help me with a whole bunch of other things as well.

Many people only train their bodies; not realizing you can train your brain and your soul as well. Our biggest fights are not with mortal flesh but with the fallen angels. Another great fighter once said something to that effect…